Ryan Shaw

Ryan Shaw is a highly expressive singer and thoughtful songwriter whose recorded work is deeply rooted in gospel and classic soul and presented with a modern twist. While his performances in productions of Motown: The Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Thriller Live have been received with widespread acclaim, he is also a three-time Grammy nominee for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Shaw received his first nomination with an update of the deep Motown ballad "I Am Your Man," taken from This Is Ryan Shaw (2007), his full-length debut for Columbia. The original ballad "In Between," originally heard on an EP and also found on the independent release Real Love (2012), was his second Grammy-nominated recording, and the same album's version of the Beatles' "Yesterday" was later up for the same award. Shaw has since juggled numerous high-profile performances with continued studio efforts that including Imagining Marvin (2020) and the Ray Angry collaboration Off Broadway (2025). Shaw was born into a deeply religious family in Decatur, Georgia. He began singing in the Pentecostal church when he was only three years old, and took his first solo when he was five. Religious music continued to be all-important to him. While enrolled at Georgia State University, he made the cut for a part in a gospel musical. In 1998, he dropped out of school and joined the cast of Tyler Perry's I Know I've Been Changed, moving to New York to perform. When the play's run ended, Shaw found work singing '50s and '60s dance songs and Motown hits, many of which were unfamiliar to him, as he had listened to little secular music before leaving his home state. In 2004, he also joined the Fabulous Soul Shakers. Band guitarist Johnny Gale convinced friend Jimmy Bralower to check out the young singer, and in 2006, after being impressed by what he heard, Bralower (a percussionist and producer) invited Shaw and Gale to his home to record a short demo. This got the attention of Columbia, and in 2007 the label issued This Is Ryan Shaw, a collection of covers from artists like Wilson Pickett, Bobby Womack, and Jackie Wilson, as well as some originals. Produced by Bralower and Johnny Gale, the album entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart for emerging acts, peaking at number 22. Shaw's update of "I Am Your Man," written by Ashford & Simpson and originally recorded by Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, became Shaw's first Grammy-nominated recording. Displeased with the lack of promotion his album received, Shaw left Columbia and founded his own label in association with Bralower and Gale's 45 Records. He returned in 2009 with In Between, an EP highlighted by the title song, which also appeared on the 2010 album It Gets Better. Consisting primarily of original material written with Bralower and Gale, the LP also featured covers of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood." "In Between" subsequently earned Shaw his second Grammy nomination. Bralower set up another label, Dynotone, home to Shaw's third album, Real Love. Covers of Jerry Ragovoy's "You Don't Know Nothing About Love" and the Beatles' "Yesterday" -- the latter of which was Grammy-nominated -- sat easily beside originals such as "Evermore" and "Morning, Noon and Night." Shaw stayed busy during a lengthy break between albums. He portrayed Stevie Wonder in the Broadway production of Motown: The Musical, competed in season ten of America's Got Talent, and played Judas in London and Chicago performances of Jesus Christ Superstar. At some point, in London, he also filled the role of "the soul of Michael Jackson" in a West End production of Thriller Live. In 2020, he returned with his fourth album, Imagining Marvin, issued on his own FORM Records and Broadway Records. In addition to covers of Marvin Gaye classics spanning the '60s through the '80s, Imaging Marvin contained original material such as "Love in Pain," a bluesy collaboration with Derek Trucks and Rob Thomas. He teamed with keyboardist, composer, and Roots member Ray Angry for his next album, Off Broadway, issued in 2025.
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